A Thomas Cook flight was forced to return to Gatwick Airport part-way through its flight to Egypt after its emergency escape slide plunged to the ground.
The emergency slide unit is believed to have fallen from the plane near the Kent and East Sussex border.
None of the 237 passengers on the Friday flight to Hurghada were injured during the incident, which has led to a probe by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) being launched.
A Thomas Cook Airlines statement said: "We can confirm that flight TCX1638, from Gatwick to Hurghada, returned to the airport after a short time into the flight after a fault was reported with an over wing slide.
"Whilst airborne, the slide unit has fallen from the aircraft and we are aware that local police have been informed."
